The High School Course Beijing Accuses of Radicalizing Hong Kong

They are sitting in orderly rows, wearing neatly pressed uniforms. But in this class, as they debate the merits of democracy and civil rights, Hong Kong high school students are prompting Beijing to worry that they are increasingly out of control.

The mandatory civics course known here as liberal studies has been a hallmark of the curriculum in Hong Kong for years, and students and teachers say the point is to make better citizens who are more engaged with society.

But mainland Chinese officials and pro-Beijing supporters say the prominence of the city’s youth at recent mass protests is the clearest sign yet that this tradition of academic freedom has gone too far, giving rise to a generation of rebels.

“The liberal studies curriculum is a failure,” Tung Chee-hwa, a former leader of Hong Kong, said in July. “It is one of the reasons behind the youth’s problems today.”

4 Responses to The High School Course Beijing Accuses of Radicalizing Hong Kong

I’d like to say first that the third and fourth paragraphs are particularly striking. It seems as though the mainland Chinese officials and pro-Beijing supporters see the protests from the youth of Hong Kong as wildly ignorant displays. Instead of taking their actions seriously and considering their requests, as you might hope a government would do, the officials see these young adults as childish and misled fools who have been pushed by their schools into this way of thinking. Furthermore, the fact that the leaders of China’s ruling communist party feel the need to micromanage what the youth are learning is proof that they know just how fragile any sort of support for them is. They truly fear opposition and how it could affect their current supporters because they know that very few people are educated believers in the current system. If they don’t quell these protests, they risk the break down of the effects of their systematic indoctrination on mainland China. Mainland Chinese officials would like to see Hong Kong youth become more patriotic to the current party and celebrate it’s triumphs. In actuality, however, the youth are very much educated on the history of this party and are not laying down their swords like the party wants. The fact that these young people who live in China are actually educated on the events of Tiananmen Square wouldn’t be surprising if not for the communist party’s consistent denial to its citizens of the event even taking place. I think Hoi Wai-hang says it perfectly, the party truly does not want its students to be educated because they fear their intelligence, and for good reason. They want total control, and you cannot control someone when they are given academic freedom, like they are allowed in Hong Kong. The control of someone’s beliefs starts from the ground up. Even Hitler feared proper education so much that he had his citizens burn books. The fact that the teacher’s union stands with the students speaks volumes to the opposition against the party. Especially in times like these, it is important that people continue to fight for what they believe is right. Although they most likely won’t see the effects for many years, they are changing the lives of generations after them, which, arguably, is the most important factor. The fundamental disconnect between the desires of the communist party to control and the desires of the Hong Kong education system for academic freedom will continue to boil over until one concedes. It doesn’t seem to matter to the party whether or not higher ups in the Hong Kong education system believe that the liberal studies program has caused these protests, they will continue to fight against them because they don’t want these kids to have any form of academic freedom. In the event that the party succeeds and classes like these are taken out of the curriculum, I hope that other teachers take a leaf out of Mr. Hoi’s book and continue to instill these values in their students secretly. At the end of the day, the teachers have the power over what their students truly learn.

China has been under communist rule since post World War II and since that point there have been nothing but protesting the government. Uprisings in parts of Tibet and Hong Kong have been occurring for decades. I find it interesting in the 3rd paragraph when its stated that mainland Chinese officials and Pro Beijing supporters are stating that Hong Kong is raising a generation of rebels. These “rebels” are protesting due to the propaganda and mistreatment of the citizens under the current Chinese system. It’s evident in the 8th paragraph that Chinese officials are ramping up their attempts to instill communist ways to younger generations. Xi Jinping (leader of the communist party) and his officials are making it a priority to instill “crucial ideologies” to these young citizens. China would like to run their own education system so they can control the minds and knowledge of all Chinese citizens. They want communism to stay and frankly are afraid of change. They may be an important global piece, but it’s within their nation that lies an issue. They have one of the highest poverty rates in all of the nation. I understand part of that issue is due to population size, but the average GDP Per capita is roughly $9,000 usd. For a country so important to global affairs, their infrastructure is very weak. This is a direct correlation of their communistic properties. I personally feel as though it is time for the Chinese government to start shifting their ideologies towards a more democratic state. China has shut down pro democratic ways since the 1989 protesters in Tiananmen Square. The article also mentions a Nobel Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, who died while in government custody. Xiaobo was involving with a petition that called for democratic reform. Their strong hatred towards democracy has been noticed by citizens across the nation. With the new school year just starting up, it may be just the beginning of China’s democratic uprises.

The fact that teacher’s in China are encouraged to answer, “I don’t know” to current event questions, along with China’s strict censorship policies, really emphasizes Hoi Wai-Hang’s quote,”They want to make young people dumber and less aware.” It is clear that China’s current government only cares about maintaining power and sacrifices the freedom of its citizens to do so. They encourage blind nationalism and reward a worker bee like mentality in order to keep the status quo.
I think that this article in particular really shows the importance of the human side of education. Even though the Chinese government has set their curriculum of unquestioning patriotism, Mr. Hoi still says that he will teach his students liberal arts and current events. The fact that online courses, or any courses that do not have a human teacher are becoming more popular around the world can be worrying for this reason. If Chinese students were taught by computers or AI commissioned by the Chinese government, it would be much easier to indoctrinate young people and keep them uninformed.
In America, we thankfully still enjoy a culture of freedom and free-thinking relative to places like China. However, it is more important now more than ever to recognize if we are at risk to having these freedoms stripped away. The American government certainly has all the surveillance cameras and personal data they need in order to set up a social score system similar to China’s, they simply have not flipped the switch yet. Education is key to knowing one’s rights and maintaining freedom. While a standardized curriculum can be important to make sure all students are getting a fair and useful public education, it is equally important that human teachers continue to teach from their own personal perspectives as well.
From the outside looking in, it is obvious that the Chinese government is doing everything they can to silence these teachers and young people, while they promote ignorance. It must be difficult for the people who actually live it everyday to be constantly bombarded with propaganda and misinformation. I hope that the people of Hong Kong can begin to finally break the cycle.

“Nothing like it [liberal studies] exists in schools on the mainland. There, Mr. Xi has presided over a vigorous campaign to recenter Chinese society around ideology, specifically ‘Xi Jinping Thought,’ his self-branded philosophy, which was written into China’s Constitution.” To me, this is the most important issue raised in this article. Not only is Hong Kong facing backlash from Beijing for having this class in their high-schools, but the “alternative” the mainland is taught, is little more than brainwashing by their dictator.
Liberal studies’ expanding of views of youth in Hong Kong, has put pressure on Beijing to tighten its grip. China’s history has proven how impactful a handful of impassioned citizens can be, and with many of these individuals believing in Democracy, it threatens the communist party directly.
Worldwide we see the impact education can have on a society, (Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, says books are the greatest fear of the Taliban, another oppressive regime), and Hong Kong is a great example of it. In the US we take for granted that liberal arts are taught at all levels of education. We don’t realize how important they are for the fostering of a healthy society.
One last comment on the article, is whether or not the government of Hong Kong will bend the knee to Beijing’s demands, or whether tensions will increase and become more violent.

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